


[come back home]

by seraphecda



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gen, References to Depression, Suicide Attempt That Never Actually Happens, written in aesthetic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 19:57:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11516352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphecda/pseuds/seraphecda
Summary: if running is for cowards, then what am i





	[come back home]

**Author's Note:**

> seven years is a long time.

vector’s kingdom, a ruin of its own, the remnants of battle washed away by the rains of poseidon that went on for days and days like it’s own personal flood.

there’s no blood crusted on the altar, no dirt wedged into the cracks.

ryoga stares at it from a perch on a broken pillar. wonders if vector’s ever come back since… everything.

the sound of orbital 7’s jet breaks the eerie silence that permeates the ruin and kaito lands with a soft thud on the cracked grounds, weeds growing out between slabs of decorative tiles eroded with time. “are you done?” he asks, blunt as ever.

“couldn’t wait at the house?”

“only yuuma would wait for you.”

ryoga frowns. “worried?”

“as ever.”

ryoga climbs down from the pillar, rolling his shoulders as he takes in the sight of the coast, harsh shades of grey in the overcast, slamming against the rocks unrelentlessly. “a storm’s coming. you still okay to fly?”

“the sooner we leave the better.”

ryoga nods as kaito instructs orbital 7 to turn into a motorcycle. damn robot could do everything.

“so, are you done?”

ryoga pauses, watching the horizon for a moment longer. “yeah.”

~

scouring the ruins had done him no good. vector was still missing, gone, without a trace. heartland cc cameras hadn’t seen him in well over a week, and ryoga wasn’t about to call the cops for this investigation.

after all, how do you chase a person who was never born in this era?

(durbe’s convinced they shouldn’t bother.)

yuuma stares at him from across the table as ryoga slides a chair out for himself. “did you find him?” he asks, so quietly that it’s obvious he’s been crying.

“a trace,” ryoga lies. “it’s only a matter of time.”

the hope in yuuma’s eyes is unbearable. ryoga looks away.

(durbe is wrong.)

ryoga can feel kaito watching him from his spot by the boiling kettle. they’d probably have a talk later. ryoga isn’t looking forward to it.

“i’m coming with you. next time.”

“i don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“but--”

“i agree with ryoga,” kaito says as the kettle clicks off. “stay home. you’ve got exams coming up, you need to focus.”

yuuma’s brow furrows and tears well up. “vector’s more important,” he declares with clenched fists and a shaky voice.

ryoga and kaito exchange a look. kaito sighs. “you don’t trust us.” it’s more statement than question, but yuuma tries to stutter out an answer anyway.

“it’s fine,” ryoga says. “we’re fine, and everything will be fine. just try to focus on your life.”

vector’s life was fraying, ready to snap, anyway. everyone knew it. only one person was in denial.

~

the kamishiro mansion has become the base of operations, since yuuma all but moved in three days after vector left (an hour after he found out). kaito’s set up office in a spare room, holo-screens lighting up the room in a constant stream of information and cc camera footage.

the rest of the house continues on as normal. as normal as they can, with a missing unit.

because death is permanent this time.

because they’ve been seven for so long that they can’t imagine it any other way.

rio locks herself up in her room after class, hyperfocused on studies and working her part-time job. alit convinces himself he can stretch his workout period, spending hours in the heartland university gym with gilag, who won’t let him try to do weights he can’t handle. mizael starts stress-baking again, but all the creations are basically inedible. durbe won’t come out of the library.

durbe does come out of the library to tell them not to look for vector.

then he goes back.

ryoga can’t help it. it’s frustrating. he takes to slamming the cupboards as he tries to prepare some form of breakfast for himself since he hasn’t eaten properly in days. neither has kaito.

pathetic.

all of them.

but especially…

“fuck,” he growls, slamming the cutlery drawer shut. mizael jumps.

“the hell?”

ryoga just glares at him.

he throws something together, pudding cups and leftover buns from the convenience store. a bottle of milk tea and two glasses. slams a rice dish into the microwave.

because the convenience store has become the grocery store. because no one can function. because vector isn’t here and no one wanted him here but now he has to come back.

home.

~

ryoga kicks back into the chair beside kaito and throws him a pudding cup. the lights are off, the holo-screens the only light source. kaito’s eyes are bloodshot.

“he’s the reason my brother wasn’t well,” he says quietly over the audio feed of heartland’s streets. “he’s the reason my dad went crazy and why the arclights, chris--”

“i know.”

“then tell me why i can’t sleep.”

ryoga rips open his own pudding cup and jabs the spoon in. “same reason i can’t.”

“why--”

“shut up and eat.”

it’s silent for a while, save for the static from the audio feed. ryoga tries to take in what kaito was doing. the links between the tabs, the locations on the map, but his eyes glaze over and he tries to blink the tiredness away.

“you think yuuma doesn’t trust us.”

“you think he does?” kaito throws back.

“i don’t know anymore.”

ryoga tilts his head back, eyes blurring out the ceiling and refocusing. when it came to yuuma, they’d do anything. they’d survive.

so why wouldn’t vector.

“yuuma cried yesterday.”

“isn’t he always,” ryoga deadpans, “when it comes to us.”

“the unholy trifecta.”

he wonders when vector became part of “us.”

~

that night, ryoga can’t sleep. again.

he rolls around in his sheets, discards them, takes them back, then shifts over to a colder spot and stares at the ceiling.

that takes him to four in the morning, when kaito opens his door and walks in.

“you too?”

“yeah.”

“are you going to get in or do i have to drag you.”

kaito glares at him. the effect is lost in the dark, translucent bags under his eyes.

“yuuma told me we aren’t trying hard enough.”

ryoga has stopped caring what yuuma thinks when it comes to vector. “don’t worry about it.”

“but what if i’m not.”

ryoga pushes himself up into a sitting position and stares at him. “you’ve been poring over footage of every camera in the goddamn city, what are you talking about.”

“i don’t know.”

the moonlight makes him look ever paler than he is. he’s thinner, bonier than ever.

“i think the chinese place has twenty-four hour delivery.”

“what.”

“you need to eat.”

kaito’s brow furrows. “i did.”

“a pineapple bun and a pudding cup doesn’t count, dumbass.”

ryoga grabs his d-pad from beside his pillow and boots it up. “what do you want?”

it’s another half an hour that takes them to the living room, takeout boxes littering the coffee table. ryoga hands kaito a random one and opens the rest.

it’s silent. too silent for a house that’s always been loud. but it’s late and everyone is sleeping and ryoga wishes he could do the same. yuuma’s been staying in alit’s room, but they haven’t heard anything about him having insomnia too.

he’s probably better for it.

“how much do i owe you?” kaito asks quietly.

“don’t worry about it.”

“this is a lot.”

“it’s cheap. don’t fucking worry about it.”

ryoga slurps some noodles down. heartland city is a dead end, and it’s not like the ruins are an easy day trip away. they had to stay in a hotel in a port town nearby, and it’s not something ryoga wants to do again. the scent of brine and the fisherman’s quay was too much to handle. the sight of the too-familiar sea was already enough to set his nerves on edge.

the kingdom of poseidon, his kingdom, is gone. in its place are new towns filled with people, without a king who would lead them astray.

“history has a way of rearing its head on you,” ryoga says, putting the takeout container back down. he taps his chopsticks together restlessly.

“yeah.”

“i don’t want to face it.”

“face what?”

ryoga breathes, in and out, in and out, and clasps his hands together, weaving his fingers and wringing them together. “he killed himself once. i… followed soon after.”

it’s something he knows kaito would understand. when you lose everything, what else is there?

ryoga grimaces. “i think… that vector’s dying. willingly. letting his body rot away.”

“what have you lost this time?”

“not sure.”

ryoga leans back into the couch and watches kaito eat. he twists the ring on his finger, round and round till the metal bites his skin and it feels hot. he wonders what time it is, whether he should finally do groceries tomorrow just to make sure kaito is eating. reminds himself to throw out the cookies mizael made that were burnt to a crisp and hard as concrete.

“i don’t want to face it either,” kaito finally says, placing an empty takeout box on the table. “i don’t want to think about it. everything that could be different, if…”

if vector wasn’t around. if he didn’t exist.

ryoga knew those thoughts too well. sargasso was a bad nightmare that showed up every now and then. the ptsd from the war had cleared up since he’d forgotten, but the memories came back and so did the burn of failure.

what if.

“don’t, then.”

“it’s hard not to.”

~

they end up sleeping in ryoga’s room. the sun’s already rising so kaito shuts the curtains and climbs into bed.

ryoga doesn’t know when kaito’s breath finally evened out into long draws, but he’s glad at least one of them is getting some much needed rest.

~

yuuma finds ryoga in the kitchen late in the morning, making a list of groceries.

“you’re not looking for him today?”

ryoga sighs, shutting the corner cupboard and standing up. “we’re not allowed to stock up on food?”

yuuma’s silent. he can’t fight that, he knows it’s unreasonable. but it doesn’t stop his fists from clenching up, his teeth from biting his lip. “i’ll… go with you,” he decides. “i want to help.”

“i was gonna send durbe and mizael.”

“oh. okay.” a pause, then, “i still want to go.”

“sure. i’ll get them after i’m done figuring out what we need.”

yuuma nods and sits down and the counter, watching as ryoga goes through the near-empty fridge and notes down everything. eggs, milk, cheese, fish, miso, tofu… luckily they still have most of the bag of rice left. gilag isn’t home, so he’ll have to call him later to find out what he needs. alit’s protein powder is near finished, and so is his stash of frozen fruit. ryoga frowns.

seems literally no one thought to do any shopping.

it isn’t long before ryoga sees that durbe and mizael have read his texts, and soon they’re all on the steps.

“here’s the list. don’t fuck up. and get some microwaveable stuff too,” ryoga says.

“sure,” mizael says, about to take off down the stairs, but durbe stops him.

“you’re still searching.”

ryoga grimaces. “what’s it to you?”

“why are you--”

yuuma looks ready to punch his glasses off. “he’s important to me. to all of us. what other reason do you need?”

mizael opens his mouth, but ryoga’s glare shuts it just as quickly.

“i just don’t see the point. he clearly doesn’t want to live, there’s no point in trying to stop it,” durbe says, voice tight. “he’s done too much, to all of us and so many more. if he wants to die, then--”

“you’re telling me everything he’s done since then, up till now, doesn’t matter?” yuuma’s voice rises, shaking all the same. “that it’s all worth nothing just because you’re hanging on to some memory?”

even after everything, ryoga doubts durbe has seen yuuma like this, with his unrelenting belief that everyone is good, that everyone can change, that everyone has changed, that life is worth living even with the baggage of the past, the regrets, the what if’s, the memories that make it so hard to keep moving forward.

“i’m not going to lose someone else.” yuuma’s voice cracks. “i refuse to lose anyone else.”

~

kaito stares dead-eyed at the holo-screens, curled up with his knees to his chest and his fingers tapping out commands on the keyboard. he’s still in his pajamas, pants and a borrowed tee as if he’d been too wound up to actually get ready properly.

he barely reacts when ryoga places a steaming mug of coffee on the desk, and doesn’t respond to the quiet “hey” aimed his way.

ryoga decides to pull the plug on all the monitors.

kaito near-panics. “what the fuck just--”

“don’t worry, it’s only the screens. everything’s still running,” ryoga says. “you’re taking a break.”

“what if he shows up?”

“you’re taking,” ryoga says slowly, “a break.”

rest is important, downtime is important. two weeks they’d been at this. two weeks with no results.

“i’m not trying hard enough.”

“this bullshit again?”

“i’m serious,” kaito says. “i’m not trying hard enough.”

“and why is that?”

“i’m supposed to hate him.”

“do you?”

“i…”

ryoga’s not so sure he can hate him anymore either. everything’s so far away, so distant he can barely feel anything. scars that have faded, disappeared entirely. he killed rio three times, but the anger isn’t there, the anger he once felt so strongly that it lit fire in his bones.

“you could tell too. that he was trying,” ryoga says.

“he wanted to meet haruto,” kaito says. “he got my number from yuuma and told me he wanted to meet him.”

ryoga waits, patiently, for the rest. darkness permeates the room with the holo-screens gone, but he knows kaito is struggling. he can tell, in the tightness of his voice, the silence that stretches.

“when i finally let him, he tagged along to pick haruto up from school,” kaito continues quietly. “he had a gift bag with him and wouldn’t tell me what it was. but when we got to the school, he gave it to haruto and left.”

“what was it?”

“a d-gazer. and caramels.”

ryoga almost smiles. “did haruto ever build his own deck?”

“yeah. from my cards.”

“and, vector?”

“he’d visit, randomly. always with boosters. then he’d leave,” kaito says. “and one day, haruto insisted that he stay and they play a game.”

ryoga knows vector kept his deck, even if he didn’t play. it was always on him, maybe out of habit or the inability to let go, but it was there and he never took it out.

“vector told him he had to leave, but. you know. haruto’s persistent,” he continues. “so i stepped in and said he had some important things to do and he was running late. they didn’t get to duel that time, or the next, but vector kept visiting. and haruto… he said that vector was like a guardian angel.”

with his eyes adjusted to the dark, ryoga can just make out the way kaito’s face is buried into his knees, the curved hunch of his back. “a guardian angel… that’s new.”

“yeah.”

moments pass with nothing but the hum of kaito’s computer, the whirring fan to keep the system cool. there’s chatter outside the room, alit and gilag getting home. ryoga wonders for a moment if yuuma is with them. then, kaito speaks again:

“i’m supposed to hate him.”

“you don’t have to.”

“do you?”

ryoga pauses, gathering his thoughts. “things aren’t the same. we shouldn’t act like they are.”

~

the sun is hot and the streets of heartland are full of the usual hustle and bustle of the city. heartland tower, long since rebuilt, gleams in the afternoon sun.

“thought about stopping home?” ryoga asks.

“sometimes.”

it took too much effort to convince kaito to tear himself away from his holo-screens, but ryoga managed to do it and here they are, ryoga’s motorcycle, heading to who knows where. but vector probably knows how to avoid cc cameras, and ryoga knows how to avoid them too. there are too many blind spots in the city, and if vector hasn’t slipped up in two weeks then there’s no point in combing through footage.

“we can do it now. we’ve got all day.”

kaito glances at the d-pad strapped to his arm and shakes his head. “not like this.”

he still looks dead, but ryoga had shoved him into the bathroom to shower properly and at the very least he came out cleaner.

ryoga’s driving today, because he’s the one who knows how to avoid cameras (whereas kaito never cared as long as he got the job done). there’s too many places in a sprawling city like heartland, but he has some ideas that he’s been sitting on, debating over.

the first place is the hospital.

ryoga hates the hospital. he’s spent too much time here in the past, injured or not.

history really does have a way of rearing its head.

he parks and pays at the metre and goes inside. kaito follows steps behind him.

“what can i help you with?” says the nurse at the desk.

“i was wondering if you would be able to tell me if a shingetsu rei has been checked in to the hospital within the past two weeks,” ryoga says. “spelled with the kanji for true, moon, and zero.”

the nurse taps at her keyboard, searching. it doesn’t take long for her to shake her head. “no one by that name has been checked in.”

“what about vector. just, vector,” ryoga asks, spelling it out with katakana for her.

“no one by that name either. sorry,” the nurse apologizes.

“what about phecda?” kaito suggests.

ryoga spells that out too, but to no avail.

“it’s fine. thank you,” he says, before turning to leave.

kaito follows him out and sighs. “that was worth a shot, i guess. so, where next?”

they drive all over the city, speeding down the highway toward the inner-city, parking between alleyways to explore old haunts. the area alit and gilag had once set up shop in with the barian had long since been gentrified into an area with new condos that added to the skyline.

kaito’s thin arms tighten around ryoga’s waist as they yet again turn off onto the highway. “you’re avoiding something.”

“like what?”

ryoga can feel kaito’s lips brush the nape of his neck. “water. the docks. the beach.”

“i’m getting there.”

“stop holding back.”

ryoga tightens his grip on the handles of his motorcycle and takes the next exit, straight toward the sea.

~

the sun is hot, but not hot enough for the beach to be busy. some are walking the trails, others are on the pier near the lighthouse. it’s fairly empty, and ryoga’s almost thankful for it.

“the sea, huh?”

it’s nearly sunset, with looming shadows that stretch across the sand. “you really think he’d be here?” kaito asks.

“he always liked the sea.”

“i wonder…”

“he visited the lands of poseidon a lot. before, everything,” ryoga says. “we were almost friends, once.”

“what about now?”

“he’ll tell you we’re not.”

they trail the unbeaten paths of the beach, climbing up the rocks toward the cliffs and even visit the rusty old lighthouse. there’s no sign of vector, but he’s always been good at hiding his tracks. packing up clean like he’d never existed.

they end up at a tourist trap restaurant along the waterfront. ryoga pays and they sit down in one of the booths.

“yuuma’s been calling him every hour, but he never answers,” kaito says as ryoga digs into the expensive fries and unwraps his burger.

“of course he doesn’t.”

“i tried triangulating the signal again last night, but i think he’s jammed it somehow. i still can’t do it.”

“figures.”

vector was smart. smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for.

kaito was smarter, but vector was always one step ahead.

they eat. or, ryoga eats. kaito barely touches anything on the table until ryoga slides the other order of fries to him.

“what are you thinking?”

“we’re missing something,” kaito says. “but i can’t figure out what.”

“think orbital could help?”

“he’s with haruto--”

“then let haruto come with us.”

kaito grits his teeth. “we won’t even let yuuma come with us, why drag haruto into it?”

“you haven’t told him, have you.” it’s not a question.

kaito scoffs. “i don’t see why i should.”

~

the ride back to the kamishiro mansion is quiet save for the rush of wind. the highway traffic is nearly gone, so ryoga speeds faster. kaito’s chest is flush against ryoga’s back, his arms around his waist, his breathing slow.

he’s fallen asleep, somehow.

when he rolls into the driveway, ryoga covers one of kaito’s hands with his own. he’s so cold. “wake up. we’re back.”

he doesn’t wake up.

ryoga grimaces, carefully peeling himself away and off the motorcycle, making sure to keep kaito up. one hand is on his shoulder to steady him. “kaito. we’re back,” he tries again, but to no avail.

he doesn’t want to wake him up, really. not when both of them haven’t been sleeping. he tries shaking him. nothing. then, concerned, he tries checking his pulse.

it’s there, at his wrist, but he has to press down to find it. it’s unbelievably faint.

ryoga sucks in a breath. he lays kaito back against the seat and fumbles when he grabs for his d-gazer.

~

the ambulance gets there in record time, hauling kaito onto a stretcher. it’s not long before they’re at the hospital again, and ryoga is instructed to stay in the waiting room until further notice.

it takes about an hour before they’re back with news.

“he passed out due to low blood pressure. is there anything you can think of that might have caused it?” the doctor asks him.

“i don’t know. we were out all day. he hasn’t been sleeping or eating much lately. maybe it was dehydration,” ryoga says. “he’s… also been really stressed.”

“is there a cause for the stress? a job or relationship?”

ryoga swallows. “a… friend.”

the doctor nods and smiles a friendly smile. “alright. we’ll be keeping him overnight to monitor his blood pressure and get him back to a hydrated state. we’ll call if anything changes, but visiting hours are between noon and three tomorrow. he should be alright by then.”

ryoga nods. “okay. thank you.”

he sits back down in the waiting room and fiddles with his d-gazer. most of the lights have switched off, and the front doors have been locked. it’s nearly closed, but he can’t bring himself to leave just yet.

he hooks the d-gazer over his ear and taps call.

“ryoga?”

“hey haruto. i just wanted to call to see how you are.”

“i’m good! how are you? and how’s kaito?”

ryoga lets out a breath and smiles wryly. “we’re good. good. everything’s great. your brother’s busy right now so he can’t talk, but he wants you to know he’ll be back soon.”

“that’s great! orbital misses him,” haruto says, laughing. “i’m glad you called.”

“me too,” ryoga says. “i have to go, but i’ll see you soon too. goodnight, haruto.”

“night!”

ryoga takes one last look down the hallway the doctor disappeared into, and leaves.

~

ryoga doesn’t tell the others. they’ve already got enough on their plates with exams and college applications.

he definitely doesn’t tell yuuma, who thinks he’s gone out to patrol the city again.

ryoga arrives at the hospital just past one in the afternoon, and the nurse happily leads him to kaito’s room. “you’re the second person to ask for him today,” she says cheerily. “he has such wonderful friends.”

ryoga’s brow furrows. what is she…?

“here you are. remember, visiting hours are closed at three!”

“thank you,” he says quietly.

he waits till she’s gone, down the hallway and out of sight, before he opens the door.

vector is sitting cross-legged in the chair beside kaito’s bed. it’s pulled up close to the bed, enough that vector can hold kaito’s hand in his, thumb running over his knuckles.

a billion questions race through ryoga’s head in a rising pulse of anger and frustration.

“what happened to him?” vector asks quietly, before ryoga can even form a coherent thought.

“he fainted because he was so stressed over you,” ryoga bites.

vector has the audacity to duck his head with guilt. “i’m sorry.”

it still feels strange, knowing that it's not a lie.

kaito’s still asleep, if the slow, steady beeps from the monitor mean anything. ryoga decides not to tear into vector, if only because he knows sleep has been a rare commodity these days.

“we’ve been searching for you for two weeks,” ryoga says instead, unfolding another chair set against the wall. “where the fuck did you go?”

“a journey,” vector says.

“and what is that supposed to mean?”

“suicide sounded like a good idea. but the longer i took to get around to it, the less it did.”

ryoga licks his lips. “why the change of heart?”

“it’s been seven years. do you think we’ve changed?”

“kaito says he’s supposed to hate you.”

vector props his chin on his hand, knuckles covering his lips, but ryoga can see the smile right before it’s hidden. “so we have.”

vector turned soft since the numeron code was rewritten. softer and softer, until he turned honest in his own way.

“what now?”

vector links his fingers with kaito’s, weaving them together. “i don’t know.”

“come back.”

“what?”

“come back home.”

vector breathes out a laugh. “i have one of those?”

“yeah,” ryoga says. “here, with us.”

vector shakes his head. “maybe,” he says.

the monitor continues to beep steadily, and kaito is breathing. maybe that's all that matters. that they're all safe and okay.

ryoga looks up at vector again. he's wrapped in a hoodie despite the warmer weather outside. a backpack sits on the floor against his chair. his skin is pale. his features set in a worried furrow.

seven years ago he would've cackled loudly and never shown up.

he really has grown soft.

~

vector doesn’t show for another couple days. ryoga only tells kaito about his appearance at the hospital after they’re back at the kamishiro mansion. how he sat on the visitor’s chair, worried and anxious. how gently he held kaito’s hand. how he decided not to die.

kaito is silent for a long while after, but he isn’t stuck at his desk, obsessively watching the screen anymore. instead he takes to rubbing at his right hand, the dips between his fingers and the round edges of his knuckles.

they don’t tell anyone else. they refuse to give yuuma that kind of heartbreaking hope.

instead, they haunt the porch of the mansion, setting up chairs and a table ryoga fills with food and water bottles. summer is inching closer. exams are almost over with alit and yuuma away to write them. it’s hot and humid, but it doesn’t stop kaito from taking out his laptop and fiddling around with it uselessly.

ryoga can hear the fan blasting. he wonders if it’s burning his thighs.

kaito drums his fingers against the arm of his chair. “how much longer?”

“i don’t know.”

ryoga has never known, not when it comes to vector. the loose canon that acted on his own, whose plans worked until they didn’t, whose personality still grated on everyone, whose sense of humour turned from lethal to sarcastic.

“what will you do, if he shows up?” ryoga asks.

“i don’t know.”

he’s not sure either.

~

he falls asleep at some point on the third day. the sun is so hot that the ice in their glasses melts into overflow, rings of condensation covering the table. the flies that buzz around are gone with the advent of the citronella candle ryoga invests in because he’s got bug bites all over his arms and they’re itchy and awful.

ryoga can hear kaito tapping away at his keyboard. the sound of the birds that made their nest somewhere above the front door. footsteps that climb up the porch steps.

“i’m home.”

ryoga opens his eyes when kaito’s laptop practically clatters to the ground, just in time to see vector get decked in the face.

“welcome back,” kaito says.

vector grimaces. “i deserved that.”

“a lot more too, but we’ll save it for later,” ryoga says, getting up too. “everyone’s been waiting.”

“and you’re the welcome wagon?”

ryoga pauses for a second. his hands hovers over the door handle. “we’re… glad you’re back.”

vector rubs at where he’d been hit, an awkward grin on his lips.

“i’m glad too.”

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to my two wonderful friends who helped me write this, u know who u are <3
> 
> this is the fic i wrote about vector that doesn't even really contain vector. i've transcended my own tropes. incredible. i'm really impressed with how fixated i still am on his character and all the possibilities of character development post-canon. too bad i usually stick to the same trope done slightly differently each time...
> 
> i hope you enjoyed reading this fic <3 kudos and comments make my day so if u did enjoy, please let me know!
> 
> thanks for reading!


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